


The Prisoner's Dilemma

by canufeelthemagictonight



Category: Original Work
Genre: Betrayal, Dystopia, Friendship/Love, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Interrogation, Nonverbal Communication, Other, Prisoner's Dilemma, Sacrifice, Sad, Sad Ending, secret code
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 08:47:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20690741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canufeelthemagictonight/pseuds/canufeelthemagictonight
Summary: “Listen. I wasn’t born yesterday. I can tell that both of you are lying. Normally, Resistance traitors are publicly executed, but…” He shrugs. “Since you’re so young, I’m willing to cut a deal.”Evan Dawson, a teenage member of the Resistance against the tyrannical General, is captured alongside his best friend, Noah Campbell. The only way for the boys to save themselves is through a classic Prisoner's Dilemma situation. But which is stronger? Trust, or self-preservation?An original story.





	The Prisoner's Dilemma

**Author's Note:**

> So this is something a little different from usual. I wrote this short story back in May of 2018 for my Intro to Creative Writing class, and while it's not the best, I think I might as well show it to you guys to see what you think of it.

They both knew they might be caught eventually. They didn’t dwell on it, or give much thought to how it would occur, but in the back of their subconscious minds, they knew the risks of joining the fight against the General’s totalitarian regime.

“It’s worth it,” Evan always said. “The General’s laws are pretty much strangling Totekistan. Censoring the media...spreading bigotry...and that’s not even touching on all the people he’s killed. If we don’t do something, we’re basically saying that it’s okay!”

Noah had a more pragmatic view of the situation. “We won’t be caught,” he assured his friend. “As long as we plan wisely and stay one step ahead of the General, nothing will happen to us.” He smiled nervously. “Besides, the Resistance is growing stronger every day. Mr. Grayson says they might have enough numbers to overthrow the General soon.”

But he was wrong. They have, at last, been caught. And no comforting thoughts are enough to stop the terror that inflames Evan’s veins as he thinks about the horrible fate that awaits them.

The walls and floor of the interrogation room are a disturbing shade of white. Evan sits in a cold metal chair, his hands tied behind his back, guards on either side of him to prevent him from escaping. Noah sits a few feet away from him, also flanked by guards. He wears his usual stoic expression, but Evan knows him too well to miss the flicker of fear that dances across his green eyes.

“You okay?” Evan whispers. “Did they hurt you?”

Noah shakes his head.

The door opens, and in walks the General himself, the man who’s kept the country under his thumb for the last twenty years. He studies the young men through beady eyes, and his thick black mustache bristles. “Well, well, well,” he sneers. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a pair of dirty Resistance scum. I’m sure your parents must be feeling _mighty_ ashamed of you right now.”

“Sir,” says Noah, his voice smooth and straightforward, “as I’ve said before, we’re not Resistance members. We’re high schoolers. We were told that we were making a pizza delivery. It’s not _our_ fault that someone snuck top-secret intel into the pizza box.”

Evan nods in agreement. He can think of twenty things that he would give his left arm to say out loud, but he’s decided to let Noah do the talking. 

A smirk spreads across the General’s face. “Listen. I wasn’t born yesterday. I can tell that both of you are lying. Normally, Resistance traitors are publicly executed, but…” He shrugs. “Since you’re so young, I’m willing to cut a deal.”

Evan’s ears perk up.

“If one of you boys decides to tell the truth about the other’s ties to the Resistance, I’ll let that boy go free...but only if the other boy keeps lying. If both of you fess up, I’ll send you two to Black Rock for a year, and after that, you can go back to being ‘high schoolers.’” He accentuates the last two words with air quotes and a mocking tone.

“So you want us to _betray_ each other?” Evan squeals.

Noah purses his lips. “Suppose I betray Evan, but he stays quiet, and I go free. What’s gonna happen to Evan?”

“He’ll be executed, of course,” is the General’s reply. “And if he betrays you but you don’t betray him, _you'll_ be executed.”

“We won’t do it!” Evan shouts. “No one’s betraying anyone!”

“Would you rather _both_ of you be executed?”

Evan’s breath catches in his throat. No! Of _course_ he doesn’t want that! He’s seen the General conduct executions before, on live Totekistan TV, and he still remembers the victims’ screams of agony as the flames engulfed them. He’s not sure if he’s brave enough to die a hero.

On the other hand, is a year on Black Rock _really_ any better? Black Rock, where the guards are sadists, where some people (some _adults)_ don’t last longer than three months?

And, of course, he _can’t_ betray Noah...

“You have twenty-four hours to think it over.”

Evan sits alone in his black-walled cell, using a pencil and a spare piece of paper to sketch a picture of a teenager playing tennis. At first, the boy’s features are nondescript, but after half an hour, Noah’s wild hair and sarcastic grin emerge.

_That’s not realistic,_ Evan chuckles to himself. _Noah_ hates _sports. He wouldn’t be caught dead with a tennis racket in his hand._ He scratches out all signs of tennis and gives his Noah a thick book of trigonometry instead. _That’s more like it._

A tapping sound plays against the wall. For a moment, Evan dismisses it as his imagination, but his face lights up as soon as he connects the dots. “Noah?” It is. It has to be. “Noah!”

It’s their code. They created it years ago, before the Resistance entered their lives, back when they were just two boys with bright futures ahead of them. Noah, as usual, justified its invention with pure logic, claiming that it might come in handy “if we need to pass messages or something.” But Evan sees it as an extension of their friendship. They are Evan and Noah, and this is _their_ thing. No one else’s. Even the other members of the Resistance were unable to figure it out.

_Evan,_ Noah taps. _You there?_

_Yeah._ Evan’s grinning so hard that his face is in danger of coming undone.

_We need to talk._

Here it comes. The test of loyalty. _Don’t worry,_ Evan taps. _I won’t rat you out._

Noah’s response is a frantic series of knocks, increasing in intensity as the message continues. _No. Betray me._

_Why?_

_Best outcome. Betray each other, no one dies._

Evan sighs. He should’ve known that Noah would try and take the “smart” way out. _No way!_ he replies. _I can’t! Besides...Black Rock..._

_Yeah,_ says Noah’s fingers against the wall. _Sucks. But it’s a year. Not death._

He has a point. Evan’s afraid of Black Rock, but dying is...well, _dying._ There’s no coming back from that. Plus, Evan has his parents to think about. He doesn’t want them to watch their only son’s televised execution.

Come to think of it, has the General told their families yet?

Probably not.

_We can get through Black Rock,_ taps Noah. _Together._

A surge of loyalty reignites Evan’s body. Death is awful, yeah, but betraying his best friend of ten years to the sadistic General...that’s a task he cannot bring himself to complete. _No,_ he tells Noah. _I care about you._

There’s a full minute of silence from the other side of the wall. When Noah’s next message arrives, it’s hard and forceful, as if he’s slamming his bruised fist against the stone. _I care too. But I’m betraying you. You should do the same._

Evan’s heart breaks. _Noah,_ he taps, and he finds himself unable to think of anything else to say to his friend.

Evan cannot sleep. The hours tick away, and Noah’s final remark haunts him like a malignant ghost in his mind. _Would he do that?_ He listens to the cell’s silence with desperate ears. _Would Noah actually betray me?_

He’d like to think he wouldn’t. He’d like to think that Noah was just bluffing, and that he has no intention of sending Evan to his possible death. He’d like to trust the friendship they’ve cultivated for the better part of their lives.

But Noah is not a liar. If Noah says that he’s going to do something, then he’ll do it. 

Evan cries into the floor.

There are less than three hours left before time runs out for them, so Evan figures he might as well attempt to talk Noah out of betraying him.

_Noah? You there?_

Two minutes pass. A sleepy-sounding _yeah_ echoes throughout the cell.

Evan eases into his request. _Remember third grade? The rocket ship? That was fun._

_I did the work,_ taps Noah. _You talked about how awesome it was._

Evan laughs. _It was awesome._

_Yeah. I guess._

A few more seconds of their lives tick away, and Evan tries his luck once more. _So, about the General…_

He hasn’t even finished his message before Noah’s furious taps respond. _Not changing my mind,_ he insists. Evan can picture the determination on his freckled face, his jaw locked in stubbornness. _It’s the only way._

There is no getting through to him. So Evan stops trying.

The awful moment arrives. Two burly guards take Evan from his cell and drag him into the interrogation room. The General is there, waiting for him, a bloodthirsty smile on his face.

“Noah?” Evan squeaks.

His question is unspoken, but the General still manages to understand. “Talked to him already. And no, you don’t get to find out what he said.”

Evan gulps. So Noah has probably already betrayed him.

“Now.” The General leans forward in his chair, and Evan can count every mark on his weathered skin. “Tell me. Is Noah Campbell a member of the Resistance?”

_He wants me to betray him._

_He said he’d betray me._

_I have no other choice._

“Yes.” The word poisons Evan’s spirit, but he forces it out like vomit from his mouth. “He is.”

_I’m so sorry, Noah._

“Excellent,” the General purrs.

Evan stands up. Surprisingly, the guards make no effort to stop him. “So we’re gonna go to Black Rock now,” he says in an even voice. “That’s what you said. If we betray each other, it’s Black Rock for a year, and no one dies. Right?”

The General laughs. “Oh, my dear boy,” he says between low-pitched cackles, “what makes you think he betrayed you?”

“Cause he told me he would.” _And Noah never lies._

The General whips a small recording device out of his pocket. Before Evan has the chance to process what is happening, familiar voices ring in his ears.

_“Now. Tell me. Is Evan Dawson a member of the Resistance?”_

Noah’s voice does not shake. _“No.”_

_“Are you sure?”_

_“I’m sure, sir. Evan had nothing to do with what happened.”_

The implications hit Evan, and he screams. He screams for Noah, begging for a chance to say goodbye, as the guards drag him out of the interrogation room. He screams as he’s stuffed into the car. He screams throughout the drive back to his house. He doesn’t stop screaming until he’s in his own bedroom once more, and then, at last, his screams give way to sobs.

When he sees Noah again, it’s through a television screen.


End file.
